Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 1916 – 14 January 1977) was an English and Australian actor of theatre, film and radio.
Born in London, he emigrated to Australia at the age of ten and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville and radio before becoming a star of Australian films. Joining the Old Vic Company after World War II, he achieved widespread critical success in Britain for both stage and screen performances. One of British cinema's most celebrated leading men of the time, Finch won five BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and the Academy Award in the same category for his portrayal of crazed television anchorman Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network. He died only two months before the 49th Academy Awards, making him the first person to win a posthumous Oscar in an acting category. According to the British Film Institute, "it is arguable that no other actor ever chalked up such a rewarding CV in British films, and he accumulated the awards to bolster this view". His reputation as an outstanding film actor has grown even more in retrospect.